Expert Design

Advice from the country's top floral designers

We looked at the work of hundreds of flower designers in every corner of the United Sates, searching for those talented artists and an inspired point of view. The result—our A-list of florists who have the expertise and imagination to translate your dream reception into a dazzling reality.

Budgeting tips from the pros►

How florists help brides find their personal style►

Read tales of outrageous requests from brides►

View the complete list of florists►

Next: Budgeting Tips

Budgeting Tips

We asked our florists to tell us their top tips for brides on a budget. Here's their advice:

I try to show the bride how she can get second uses out of her flowers. Alter decorations can be used to decorate the entrance to the reception; pew decor can be clipped to the skirt of a cake table.

– Custom Design Floral

Prioritize which flowers are the most important to you. For example, for one bride it might be bouquets, for another it might be the centerpieces. Your priority pieces can include your "splurge" flowers.

– Karla Ramirez Floral Design

When we go to the flower market, I ask the bride to bring her father, if he's paying. The bride will say, "Daddy, what do you think?" and he just glows.

– Dale Rohman

Tone down your flowers at the ceremony site. It is normally never over one hour long, compared to the average 4–5 hours for receptions. Let the guests focus on you, the bride, and the beautiful dresses. Also, try using beautiful blooming plants at the ceremony site, which you can also give as gifts to family members.

–Elegance and Simplicity

Splurge on your bouquet; your wedding day is about YOU after all. Save by reducing flowers for the ceremony, approach table centerpieces in a minimalist fashion, or be creative when designing special, cost-effective bridesmaid bouquets.

–Ultra Violet

Be flexible. Some brides walk into my shop with pictures and a list of the names of the flowers they want. I advise them that we can accomplish a very close look with seasonal flowers and save money.

– Elegant Celebrations

Don't spread the money and the florals too thin. For instance, don't put tiny arrangements all over the reception. Try a simple grouping of votives on the tables and a large, high-impact buffet centerpiece.

–Urban Earth

We would rather see our clients create three things that are done beautifully, right, and with flair than do a dozen things that are mediocre and half-baked.

– Avi Adler

We suggest a simpler approach to the maids' bouquets. Instead of labor-intensive bouquets set in oasis holders, we can tie a ribbon around flowers that hold up well out of water, for a savings of $20–$50 a bouquet.

– Flowers and Finery

I stress simple math when it comes to the bottom line. If you have ten bridesmaids, everything you buy for them will be multiplied by ten. The number of guests simply makes the bottom line grow or shrink exponentially.

– David Beahm

Learn to love the flowers that are in season during the time of your wedding, and never underestimate the power of candlelight.

– L'olivier.

Select a space that already embodies your vision rather than transforming a space into something it is not.

– Prudence Designs

Utilize resources provided by the venue. Complimentary votive candles and table linens can be enhanced with an overlay or table runner.

– White House Flowers

A bride who wants specific flowers or colors should consult a floral designer before setting the wedding date. A flower might be out of season—and too expensive for her budget.

– Bob Gail Special Events

To cut costs, stockpile the things you would love for your tabletops, such as glass candlesticks, hurricane lamps, or candles, when they're on sale.

– Laurels Custom Flora & Events

If you have a gazebo or a chuppah, don't think the entire thing has to be covered with flowers. You can always go up one side and do the top.

– Mark's Garden

One strategically placed large arrangement makes a better impression than lots of small bud vases.

– Karla Ramirez Floral Design

Pillar candles with massed fruit or flowers at the base create an effect for a few dollars.

– Max Gill

Spend less on flowers for areas where guests will not linger. Think of it as a little tease of what's around the corner.

– Scentiments Flowers

Use single-species flowers and make bold statements. Consider a few fabulous orchids or hydrangeas to give you a lot of bang for your buck.

– Blumen

To cut costs, I suggest keeping the maids' bouquets small and inexpensive.

– Blossoms

Brides pick the venue, the food, and make a huge guest list—by the time they get to the flowers, they've exceeded their budget. Think about the whole package at the outset!

– Elizabeth Ryan

Next: Tips for Creating Your Personal Style

Tips for Creating Your Personal Style

Brides should listen to their hearts and go with their feelings. Some brides don't realize that they are the ones to set the rules.

– David Beahm Design

A bride who wants specific flowers or colors should consult a floral designer before setting the wedding date. A flower might be out of season—and too expensive for her budget.

– Bob Gail Special Events

When I meet a couple, I ask how they met and what their common interests are. These details spark more creativity than anything else.

– Michelle Rago Ltd.

We may bring in flowering trees to introduce scale at a more affordable price.

– Renny and Reed

To discover your personal style, walk through a garden in your area to identify your favorite colors, forms, fragrances.

– Rose Story Farm

When the bride has her color palette, I search out the most incredible variety of flowers that fit into it, from the softest to the most intense.

– The Velvet Garden

Brides should think about which flowers they don't like, then zero in on the ones they do.

– Elegance & Simplicity

Don't think the color of the bridesmaids' dresses dictates your palette. Go with what you love, your surroundings, the season—you can't go wrong.

– Ariella Cheza

To help a bride create her own style, we talk about colors and looks—but most of all, the overall feel she wants to create at her wedding, be it dreamy, romantic, classic, formal, semicasual, etc.

– Petals & Pearls

Communication is key to learning about the bride's style. When we pay close attention to her wishes, her style always emerges.

– Beco Flowers

How to discover the bride's own style? I have a meeting with her, sans maman!

– Anthony Todd

We like to learn what inspires the bride: art, fashion, music, food. These are important factors in shaping an overall vision for the event.

– Art Fool

I start my conversation with a bride by asking her to describe her wedding dress. This tells me what kind of wedding style she envisions.

– Belle Fleur

It is just as telling for us to know who their favorite fashion designer is, what their favorite movie is, what their favorite restaurant is… These loves translate readily into where their tastes might lie.

– Avi Adler

We spend time talking about the story she wants to visually tell—and what will make her guests feel welcome and comfortable in the style she wants to share.

– David Beahm

I tell the bride to sit back and close her eyes, and then I ask, "Think back to yourself as a little girl. what did you picture when you imagined your wedding?"

– Dejuan Stroud

Although we spend several hours in discussion, by the first ten minutes I have a good idea of her style, based on her choice of gown and bridesmaids' dresses. It tells me if she's traditional or contemporary.

– Elegant Celebrations

I always start with the shoes. Shoes are a wonderful key to aesthetic sensibility.

– Max Gill

We take the bride and groom on a flower-market trip to see what flowers and colors they gravitate toward.

– Prudence Designs

Next: Tales of Outrageous Requests

Tales of Outrageous Requests

The sky's the limit when it comes to wedding flowers and decorations—these requests prove it!

We added flowers to a cake for a bride and groom who were both clowns. It was lopsided, green, purple, and orange.

-Flowers and Finery

One bride wanted to "walk" down the aisle on the back of an elephant.

–Avi Adler

I designed a wedding for a couple whose wedding theme was Lord of the Rings. Calla lilies and the sleeves of the bride's dress were used to mimic elfin ears. The vows were done in elvish and the focal point of the ceremony was a custom-built archway draped with lush garlands to imitate the scenery in the movies.

– Loves Me Flowers

I had a bride that wanted the roses in her bouquet spray-painted a dark blue!

– Custom Design Floral

I was asked to decorate a framed picture of the bride's dog and place it along with the dog's favorite toy on the altar during the ceremony. I haven't done any flowers for cats yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

– Karla Ramirez

I covered five dog leashes with rose petals for the bride's Great Danes.

– Elegance and Simplicity

I was planning the flowers for a destination wedding in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. The bride had exquisite taste and loved very specific types of roses that we carried as our luggage. Getting 8,000 roses from Ecuador to Washington, D.C., preparing them for travel, repacking them onto a flight to Miami, transferring them to a flight to St. Thomas, then carrying them by boat to the island was a nail-biting adventure. The well-traveled roses created magic in the most magical of settings and oh, what a happy bride. Not to mention an exhausted florist.

– Ultra Violet Flowers

I once had a bride who couldn't decide on the look for her bridal bouquet, so she asked us to make two. It was an unusual request, but practical because it gave her piece of mind, and in the scheme of things the cost was incidental. When the wedding day came, she still couldn't decide, so she switched to the more colorful bouquet at her reception.

– Blumen

A groom wanted us to transform the honeymoon suite. We spread red rose petals ankle-deep throughout the entire space. He spent more on the flowers for the suite than the family spent on the reception flowers. But more important, it was by far the most romantic gesture—and isn't that what it's all about?

– BelleFleur

I once had a bride ask for 3,600 candles to illuminate her backyard.

-Glorimundi

A bride who was a Saudi Arabian princess wanted to have snow falling as she went down the aisle in the palace. It was incredibly dramatic, because most of the 2,000 all-female guests had never seen snow before.

–Glorimundi

We did a wedding in Big Sur, California, where we had to scale a cliff to install a flower-covered chuppah. The bride, groom, and guests arrived by helicopter.

–Gotham Gardens

A bride asked me to make a shawl out of flowers to enhance her gown. It was very labor-intensive, but the result was a big hit.

– OSY

I made a 15x5-foot floral sculpture. The wall of flowers was used like a video screen and abstract images were projected on it.

–Volanni

A bride had us duplicate a large Persian carpet out of fresh garden rose petals to stand on while exchanging vows. The incredible fragrance and movement of this living carpet fulfilled this couple's wish.

–Rose Story Farm

A couple who were horror fans asked us to create a centerpiece evoking the style of The Nightmare Before Christmas. We pulled this off with claylike flowers such as black calla lilies. The unusual design, however, was topped by the choice of music for their cake cutting—the shower scene from Psycho!

– Bob Gail Special Events

One bride who seemed very nice wanted a sprig of poison ivy in her stepmother's corsage. We said no! You have to draw the line somewhere.

– Jacob Maarse

Next: Top Floral Designers - Our A-List

Photo credit:

Holger Thoss

: This content originally appeared in Elegant Bride magazine. Prices and other information in this story were accurate at press time, but are subject to change. Please confirm details with individual designers and vendors.

Expert Design

Budgeting Tips

Tips for Creating Your Personal Style

Tales of Outrageous Requests

Top Floral Designers — Our A-List

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